H20 GPU

Nvidia is seeking US Commerce Department approval to resume H20 GPU shipments to China and has introduced a new RTX Pro chip designed to comply with current export rules. The move signals the chipmaker’s attempt to navigate geopolitical trade restrictions while preserving access to a market it abandoned under Biden-era curbs, now worth an estimated $50 billion.

• Nvidia applied for US Commerce Department licenses to restart H20 deliveries to China, expecting approval soon and rapid resumption of shipments thereafter.
• CEO Jensen Huang met with Trump and lawmakers in Washington before traveling to China to promote AI cooperation and open-source support.
• The H20 remains constrained by April restrictions that halted even scaled-down chip exports, forcing a multibillion-dollar inventory writeoff.

• $50 billion China AI chip market lost to US industry under current export restrictions
• May 2025 First hints emerged of a scaled-down H20 designed for Chinese buyers
• April 2024 US government blocked H20 export, halting sales with no time to clear backorders

Nvidia said Monday that it will resume H20 GPU shipments to China pending regulatory approval and is launching a compliance-focused RTX Pro chip aimed at industrial applications within the country, according to reporting on the announcement. The California chipmaker has filed for the necessary licenses with the US Commerce Department and expects clearance “soon,” with customer deliveries to follow once paperwork is complete. The H20 remains Nvidia’s attempt to serve Chinese buyers under export controls imposed since 2022, but even that scaled-down design faced a shock April ban when US officials restricted its shipment on national security grounds.

Huang courts Washington and Beijing simultaneously on AI cooperation

CEO Jensen Huang has been cultivating relationships on both sides of the Pacific as Nvidia seeks regulatory approval and market access.

The executive recently met with President Trump and several lawmakers in Washington before traveling to China for talks with officials there, Nvidia said, framing both visits as efforts to promote AI research collaboration and the company’s open-source initiatives.

In a CNN interview that aired Sunday, Huang pushed back against security concerns over US technology reaching Chinese military programs, arguing that Beijing “simply can’t rely” on American chips because Washington could restrict access at will.

Huang also argued that China already possesses sufficient computing capacity and does not need Nvidia hardware for military development.

Multibillion-dollar writeoff reflects depth of China market collapse

Nvidia’s access to China’s estimated $50 billion AI chip market has been effectively closed since April’s export ban, forcing the company to record a multibillion-dollar writeoff on inventory that cannot be sold or repurposed.

The H20 was itself a compromise design created in response to 2022 restrictions under President Joe Biden that barred exports of Nvidia’s fastest AI accelerators to the country. When April’s tightened curbs arrived, the company had no time to clear backorders, leaving customers stranded and the supply chain disrupted.

Huang has criticized the export control strategy as counterproductive to US technological leadership. “We want the American tech stack to be the global standard,” he said in the CNN interview, noting that approximately half of the world’s AI developers are based in China and that US companies need global reach to maintain industry dominance.

RTX Pro chip targets industrial AI within regulatory boundaries

Alongside the H20 restart plan, Nvidia introduced an RTX Pro graphics processor marketed as “fully compliant” with current export regulations and designed for digital-twin artificial intelligence applications in smart factories, logistics hubs, and industrial settings inside China.

This product represents a compliance-first approach to preserving Chinese market share without triggering additional US government action.

The new chip signals Nvidia’s strategy to segment its product line by regulatory framework rather than abandon the Chinese market entirely.

The CCS read. Nvidia’s play here is not about near-term revenue, the compliance delays and regulatory uncertainty guarantee a long ramp. What matters to institutional holders is whether approval signals a broader thaw in US-China tech relations under Trump, and whether Huang’s dual-track diplomacy succeeds in keeping Nvidia’s stack globally distributed. Watch whether Trump’s administration extends this logic to other crypto-adjacent hardware and data infrastructure that currently faces export curbs.

The Commerce Department’s decision on H20 licenses remains the immediate trigger; Nvidia has said approval is expected “soon,” and that timing will determine whether H20 shipments resume in Q3 or slip into the final quarter of 2025. Huang’s next visible move will be communicating that decision to Wall Street during the third-quarter earnings call, where investors will parse his language on China recovery timelines and the RTX Pro ramp against the multibillion-dollar hole from the April ban.